Montreal Canadiens: Three Potential Phillip Danault Trades

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers have two of the best players in the world. What they don’t have is the depth and talent behind them to build a successful hockey team. It is great to have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl lighting up the score sheet, dominating together on the power play and basically guaranteeing a goal during three-on-three overtime.

However, it has not resulted in any sort of playoff success. In fact, this season it didn’t even lead them to the postseason at all. The Oilers were surprisingly knocked out of the play-in round by the 12th seeded Chicago Blackhawks.

The Oilers have a strong top six led by McDavid and Draisaitl, but also supported by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto. They could use a better sniper to play alongside McDavid, and might even need an upgrade in goal.

However, finding a centre to play on the third line and help solidify the bottom six so it isn’t a complete fire drill every time McDavid and Draisaitl are on the bench would be great as well.

Enter Phillip Danault. His offence might take a dip if he isn’t on a line with Tatar and Gallagher anymore, but his defence is impeccable and a third line featuring Danault would give the Oilers a legitimate shutdown line that could cut back on chances and goals against.

The relationship between Jesse Puljujarvi and the Oilers soured long ago. The Finnish winger is big, skates well, plays a smart two-way game and has the potential to be a top six winger. He would be an excellent fit on the current rendition of the Montreal Canadiens. He scored just under a point per game pace in Liiga last season and could be an ideal winger for fellow Finn Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

The Oilers also throw in Andreas Athanasiou who has the speed to match McDavid, but not much else on the same level as the game’s best player. He showed flashes in Detroit but didn’t really fit with the Oilers and could be a pricey player next season after a potential arbitration hearing.